Many bereaved Haitians go into a lifetime of debt to send off deceased relatives. Now the death of her father by stroke threatens to send her into a lifetime of debt. The bereaved Tanis, who used what little savings she had to try and keep her father alive, appeared highly vulnerable to influence. Fly-by-night hearse drivers, prying neighbors and even hospital physicians will bring bereaved families to undertakers, competing to claim a finder’s fee of 10 percent that mortuaries dole out to intermediaries. On a recent afternoon, the air was thick with the emotional fallout of Haiti’s uncontrolled funeral and burial business.

Source: Washington Post April 06, 2017 04:07 UTC